AMERICAN commandos hunting Osama bin Laden have not had a credible lead for more than two years, it was revealed yesterday.

And US intelligence officials admitted - on the anniversary of 9/11- that the trail for the world's most wanted man was "stone cold".

As a counterterrorism official said there was "nothing close to real-time intelligence" on where the al-Qaeda leader is, new video tapes were released of his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri threatening attacks on Israel and Persian Gulf states.

Saudi-born bin Laden, with a £15mil-lion bounty on his head, has not been seen on any new videotape since late 2004, but audiotapes surfaced this year.

In the last three months the hunt has been intensified on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border after President George Bush urged his forces to "flood the zone".

But experts on the ground say it is difficult to pinpoint a precise area.

The common belief is that bin Laden is somewhere along the mountainous 1,500-mile border in one of several semi-autonomous tribal regions.

But some Pakistani intelligence officials admit he could be hidden in cities such as Karachi or Lahore.

One agent said: "There's not even a rumour. There's not even a murmur."

In an interview with the Mirror in October 2001 Tony Blair was asked' Will you catch bin Laden, the PM replied: "Yes..of that I have no doubt."

But the CIA insisted finding bin Laden and al-Zawahiri, remain top priorities.

Gary Berntsen, a former CIA officer who led the first hunt for bin Laden, said: "This could all end tomorrow. One unsolicited walk-in. One tribesman seeking to collect the $25million reward.

"One courier who would rather his kids grow up in the United States. One dealmaker, and this could all change."

In footage shown on Arabic TV sattion Al-Jazeera yesterday al-Zawahiri condemned UN peacekeepers in Lebanon as "hostile to Islam" and criticised Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, accusing them of siding with Israel.

Militant websites used by al-Qaeda yesterday celebrated its attacks on the US with a documentary-style video showing a smiling Osama bin Laden at a terror camp in Afghanistan where the 9/11 suicide hijacking was planned.

Meanwhile, a poll last night revealed 53 per cent of Britons think the Government is losing the war on terror at home. Only 24 per cent thought it was being won. It also found half want British troops to leave Iraq now and 52 per cent want them out of Afghanistan.

Fifty five per cent thought the UK was too closely alight to US foreign policy. Just 11 per cent said it should be closer.

But the BBC poll found 52 per cent of the 1,000 quizzed do not want Governments to negotiate with al-Qaeda.